Taking Steps
by richonnesmints
Summary: Bobby and Athena are in the church and they realize a few things about themselves and each other. (Just a little extended version of the church scene from 1x10)


**A/N:This is my very first Bobby/Athena fanfic, and if I'm being honest, I'm actually really nervous about this. But then again, I'm always like this when I write for new ships. These two have quite literally ruined my life and we barely have any content of them. I really don't know how I'm supposed to survive until season 2. But anyway, I hope you all like this!**

Bobby folded his hands and closed his eyes. He silently prayed for quite a few things; forgiveness for all the things he had done, the kid who had just lost his father in that terrible accident, and happiness. That was definitely a new one for him. Bobby couldn't even remember the last time he genuinely wanted to be happy.

Bobby finished his prayer and opened his eyes. Athena was finished because she was already looking at him when he glanced over at her. The expression on her face was full of concern.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah," he lied. It wasn't completely a lie; praying helped a little, but he was still angry with himself for showing weakness at that scene.

He let out a sigh; he couldn't believe that he had broken down. Even though he had already apologized a few times, he felt like he needed to do it again.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted out there. It wasn't-"

Before he could get out the word "professional", Athena interrupted him.

"I already know what you're going to say, so I'm gonna go ahead and stop you right there," she said.

"I just- I'm supposed to the leader out there. I'm not supposed to be the one who breaks down in front of everyone," Bobby said. He was ashamed of himself and he was sure Athena knew it too.

Athena let out a little sigh before she began to speak. She hated seeing Bobby like that. "We have to deal with a lot of things, and we see so much… things that people could never even imagine. It's never easy. Everyone expects people like us to always be strong, but the truth is, we can't. We're people too. These uniforms don't make us robots with no feelings. Sometimes we all need to have a good cry, and that's okay. That doesn't make you any less of a leader. Don't be hard on yourself."

She noticed Bobby's expression change a few times while she talked. She saw realization, guilt, and sadness. He looked like he needed something, someone… and Athena wanted to try her best to be the person he needed. She looked down and Bobby's hands were resting on each of his legs, so she placed her right hand on top of his left. He jumped and she immediately moved her hand.

Bobby shook his head. "That- that was okay. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry."

Bobby silently cursed himself. It had been forever since someone had touched his hand in that manner, and he couldn't believe that he had almost jumped out of his skin. But then again, he hadn't been expecting it at all.

Bobby let out a frustrated sigh. He desperately wanted to run out of the church and never look back, but the only thing that stopped him was the look of understanding on Athena's face.

He was glad that he hadn't screwed up so far. "I'm sorry. Can we try that again?" Bobby asked. He really wanted to try not only for himself, but for the fact that Athena obviously wanted to be there for him.

Athena nodded. "Bobby?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever be sorry."

Athena had always had suspicions that there was more to him than he let the rest of the world see. And as she sat there in the church with them, her suspicions were slowly getting confirmed. He acted like he was scared, like he would let the whole world down if he made one wrong move. He apologized far too often like he felt guilty of every little thing that happened around him. It was so sad to see and Athena truly wanted to be there for him.

Even though Bobby had asked to try it again, she looked into his eyes for permission as she moved her hand toward his. He nodded and Athena placed her hand on top of his once again.

She smiled a little and he tried his best to smile back.

They both sat there in silence staring ahead, except for the couple times they glanced at each other. Neither of them knew what to say.

It wasn't a particularly awkward situation, but the silence between them made Athena start thinking and she wasn't sure what to make of it all. She had no clue what overcame her, but her eyes kept wandering to his lips and she couldn't stop thinking about what it might be like to kiss him. Athena tried to figure out if she had ever thought about him that way in the time they had known each other, and she was coming up blank. But after all, she had been married and even after she knew things weren't going to go well with Michael, she still never even thought about the possibility of liking another man… not until recently, when she had decided to start dating.

Maybe something was there with Bobby; she really wasn't sure. But there she was in the middle of church basically holding his hand and she just couldn't stop thinking about him. Athena definitely wasn't going to play dumb and act like she didn't feel anything.

Oh, boy. Maybe she did like him that way after all.

A group of people walked by and a woman carried a baby in her arms. They walked to the front of the church and began to talk to the priest. Bobby guessed they were planning some type of service. He knew it wasn't nice to stare, but he did it anyway. It was the only thing that kept his thoughts at bay. After only a few minutes, they left the church and Bobby didn't have anything to keep him distracted.

His thoughts began to whirl around his mind again.

Bobby glanced down at their hands one more time. He found himself getting nervous. It wasn't because he was uncomfortable, it was because he liked the way her hand felt on his. It was so soft and gentle and a part of him wanted them to stay that way forever.

He glanced over at her and he was surprised that she was already staring at him.

Bobby felt a strange feeling in his stomach and his heart rate got a little out of control once he realized that he had butterflies.

His eyes widened. What did it all mean?

He was sure of one thing; if he continued to sit there with his eyes wide open and his heart pounding, his hands would start sweating soon and Athena would know something was up. He had already messed things up once, and he definitely didn't want to do it again.

"Thank you for everything," Bobby whispered as a distraction. He figured talking to her would keep him from overthinking so much.

He thought a "thank you" was the least he could say; he thought Athena deserved one anyway. Without her, Bobby was sure he would've went home and cried until he couldn't have cried anymore. He was getting better, that much was true, but he still had bad days. And today would've definitely turned into one if it hadn't been for Athena.

"You don't have to thank me."

"I do," he insisted. "You walked over to see how I was doing back there and then you came here with me. You didn't have to do any of those things, so thank you."

Athena half smiled. "I know, but you looked like you needed someone and I wanted to be here for you. You do know I'm here for you, right? Whatever you need to talk about… whenever you need to, I'll be there."

After hearing those words and seeing her smile, Bobby was sure his heart was going to jump right out of his chest. She was being so supportive of him and she made it seem like she would drop anything just to make sure he was alright.

"Thank you," Bobby whispered. That was all he could say. He would most likely take her up on that offer in the future. He did have a big secret to talk about, but he just felt that it wasn't the right time or place. He promised himself he would tell her, but not today.

"Just remember that. If you need to call me in the middle of the night, you go ahead and do it," Athena told him.

The little voice in the back of his head kept screaming that he liked her and Bobby was beginning to wonder if he actually did. There was no way he should've been feeling or thinking all of those things he was just then. He was so confused.

And he became even more confused when the little voice in his head also kept saying that she liked him too. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. Maybe she was only being a supportive friend and saying all of those things in a friendly way. But Bobby also knew the difference between friendliness and actual attraction. And the way Athena was acting, grabbing his hand, giving him smiles and glances, and being so supportive and understanding of him, it made him wonder.

Bobby had two choices; he could stop their little moment, leave the church, and never find out, or he could stay and try to figure it out. For once in his life, he was going to stay put instead running away. He had learned all about learning and growing and today was just as good a day as any to start doing both of those.

Bobby moved the hand that was under Athena's and she moved hers away. That was the opposite of what he was trying to accomplish. He wanted to hold her hand and feel her fingers interlocked with his own.

"Wait," he whispered.

Bobby nervously moved his hand over to grab hers and he did his best to keep it steady. His knuckles brushed across the back of her hand. Once he grabbed it, he looked at her and she caught on to what he wanted. She spread her fingers and he interlocked his with hers.

"Is this okay?" Bobby asked. He only wanted to make sure she was comfortable with it all.

Athena smiled. "It is."

Bobby breathed a sigh of relief. He had taken a step… a very small one, but he couldn't have been more proud of himself.

Only a minute prior, Bobby had wondered if they had both liked each other…. Well, he had mostly figured it out on his end, but he was still a little confused about how Athena felt. But the longer they sat there like that, holding hands and glancing at each other, it all felt right. And the thing was, Bobby hadn't felt that way in a long time, so it had to mean something.

Once again, they both fell silent. That lasted for a few minutes until Bobby decided to take an even bigger step and ask her a question; he was going to ask her out on a date.

But as he turned to look at her, her head was only inches away from his. He guessed she had scooted closer to him; he hadn't even noticed because he was too busy trying to figure out her feelings.

The good news was that Bobby wasn't confused about how Athena felt about him anymore. Her actions had cleared all of that up for him. And the bad news? Well, there wasn't any. There wasn't one bad thing about the situation they were in. Athena's beautiful face was only inches away from his and she wanted to kiss him just as much as he wanted to kiss her.

Bobby stared at Athena's lips and she stared at his. His plans for asking her on date had been forgotten immediately. Bobby had to catch his breath as he moved closer to her.

Before they could actually kiss, his phone rang in his immediately moved away from each other like they had been caught doing something they weren't supposed to. As soon as her hand left his, Bobby longed to hold it again. He grabbed his phone and answered it.

"Nash," he said as he tried to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Bobby, where are you? Is everything okay?" Chim asked. "Do we need to call someone else to come and cover your shift?"

"No, Chim. I'm fine. I'll be there soon. I just had to take a break."

"Are you sure you're fine?" Chim asked again.

Bobby glanced over at Athena before he answered. "Yeah, I'm great."

That earned him a smile from Athena.

"Okay. I'll see you in a bit," Chim said. "Bye."

"Bye."

Bobby ended the phone call and looked at Athena. They had almost kissed before Chim called, and he was a little disappointed that he had ruined their moment.

"Is everything alright?" Athena asked.

Bobby nodded. "Chim just called to check up on me and to see if they need to call someone to cover my shift. They must be getting a lot of calls, so that means I should really get going."

Athena nodded in understanding. "People are probably starting to wonder where I am too."

The last thing Athena wanted to do was say goodbye to him. She wanted to finish what they were about to start.

They both stood up and Bobby shoved his phone in his pocket. They walked out of the church together and he walked with her to her car.

Bobby remembered that he had forgotten to ask her about a date. Athena was only a few seconds away from getting in her car and driving off, so he tried to work up the courage to ask her before he wouldn't get the chance to.

Athena's hand touched the door handle right as he began to speak.

"Athena?" He said nervously.

She turned around and looked at him.

"Would you like to eat dinner with me tonight?"

She smiled a little. "Are you asking me on a date?"

Bobby chuckled nervously and looked at the ground before he focused on her. "Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do."

Athena's smile grew wider. "I'd love that."

"Really?" Bobby asked, surprised. He didn't really mean for that to come out, he was just shocked that she had actually said yes.

"Of course. What time?"

Bobby shrugged. "I know you have kids and they keep you busy, so whatever works for you."

Athena laughed a little. "Actually, they're with their dad, so I'm free any time after six today."

"I get off at seven, so would eight work for you?"

She nodded. "That'll be great. Which restaurant?"

"I haven't really thought about that yet," Bobby admitted. He really was a damn mess when it came to dating. He asked a woman out and didn't even have anything planned out. But Athena didn't seem to mind; she looked like she was amused by it all.

Athena smiled and shook her head. "There's this Italian restaurant a few blocks from the station. It's called "Taste of Rome". Do you know that one? We can go there if you'd want to."

Bobby nodded. "I know that one, and that's fine with me."

Athena opened her car door and Bobby had already rushed over to her so he could close it whenever she got in. Even if Bobby was bad at everything else that involved dating, he knew that he was definitely good at being a gentleman. At least he had that going for him.

Athena didn't make any effort to actually get into her car, she just stared at Bobby and he stared back.

He was going to go for it; he was going to kiss her and nothing was going to stop him.

Bobby stepped closer and placed one of his hands on her cheek. Athena met him halfway and they closed their eyes.

Then, their lips touched and warmth radiated throughout Bobby's entire body.

They broke away after only a few seconds, but Bobby wanted more... he needed more. He could tell that Athena felt the same way because of the look of desire in her eyes.

They began to kiss again and Athena wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss deepened as Bobby moved them forward and Athena's back hit the inside of the opened car door.

The kiss was so soft and sweet and Bobby had literally never felt so free in his entire life. He felt so safe... safe from all the bad thoughts and the guilt.

There were times when Bobby prayed and asked for help, but he never knew if it would come in the form of a miracle or a person.

But he was sure now; his prayers had been answered. He didn't know how or why, but he knew that Athena had come into his life for a reason.

Athena Grant was going to be the one person that was going to save him.

When they finally pulled away, they were both out of breath. Athena untangled herself from him and got into the car.

Bobby was really glad they had both parked in the back parking lot of the church because if they hadn't, they would've put on quite a show for everyone.

"I'll see you later?"Athena said.

"Definitely," Bobby promised.

Athena smiled at him. She started her car and pulled out of the parking spot.

Bobby stood there and watched her drive away. After he couldn't see her car anymore, he made his way to his vehicle. He had a smile on his face and he was actually happy. For the first time in a very long time, he was actually looking forward to something and it was all because of Athena.


End file.
